Beautiful People #17 // May Edition

And we’re BACK! With another round of the Beautiful People linkup for writers!

What happened to the April edition, you ask? IT DIDN’T HAPPEN, THAT’S WHAT. Blame it on Camp NaNoWriMo (which Sky and I participated in splendidly) and on busyness of life in general, and oh, you can totally blame it on cake too. Cake is distracting.

But here we are again. No need to panic.

Don’t forget to try and stop by to visit some other blogs linked up! (I do my best to visit everyone but…I fail. I need 9 more eyeballs, peoples.) You can make some glorious writerly friends this way. And if you have any question and/or theme suggestions — YELL NICELY AT US. We listen.

[accordion_wrap][accordion id=”one” title=” >> CLICK TO READ WHAT BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE IS ABOUT” open=”false”]If you’re new here (greetings, mortal) this is a linkup hosted by Sky @ Further Up and Further In and me! It’s aimed at writers so they can answer the questions about their characters and their books. It’s designed to help you get to know your book better! (And also giveyour followers a sneak peek of your works-in-progresses.)

The linkup is open all month. Just a) grab the questions, b) answer them on your own blog, c) either link to our blogs or take the official button, and d) linkup below!

You can check out the official page (FAQs and examples and archive of previous lists) if you wish.[/accordion][accordion id=”two” title=” >> FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS” open=”false” ]What is Beautiful People? Beautiful People is for writers. Every month, we post a list of 10 questions for you to answer about your characters (or your novels). It’s designed to help you get to know your characters – their quirks, their personality, their flaws, and who they are.

Can I join Beautiful People anytime? Absolutely. It’s designed so you can jump in whenever new questions are posted. They’ll be posted at the beginning of the month, but you can join in at aaaany time.

Can I submit questions to Beautiful People? Yes! In fact, we encourage it. If you’d like to submit questions, you have two choices. Either leave a comment on Paper Fury or Further Up and Further In, or send us emails. Whichever way you choose, we’ll attempt to use your questions.

When is it? The meme is live on the 5th of every month! You can join in at any time during the month, just add your post-url to the linky. And don’t forget we’d love you to share the comment-love and visit some fellow linkers.[/accordion]

Don’t forget to grab the button and/or link to this page on your blog! So anyone can join in!

How often do they smile? Would they smile at a stranger?

What is the cruelest thing they’ve ever been told? And what was their reaction?

What is the kindest thing they’ve ever been told? And what was their reaction?

What is one strong memory that has stuck with your character from childhood? Why is it so powerful and lasting?

What book (a real actual published book!) do you think your character would benefit from reading?

Have they ever been seriously injured? How severely? How did they react?

Do they like and get along with their neighbours?

On a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being easy and 10 being difficult) how easy are they to get along with?

If they could travel anywhere in the world, where would they go?

Who was the last person they held hands with?

so who survived Camp NaNoWriMo?!? what writerly goals do you have for May?? IS ANYONE EDITING NOW? (i am editing. also crying, coincidentally) and have you had any BRILLIANT ideas lately that you want to gush about? i have cake to share. let us chat.

Comments

*Cries because I did nothing productive last April* Well this May I’m trying to write a book?!? I actually started writing it today again after a 10k written in 2 days was a false start *sobs at that too*

It’s a creepy little fantasy thing, and I’m so terrified of writing it because in all honesty, it scares me. Gush: A Ferris wheel that goes haywire, people with masks instead of faces, a psycho villain modeled after Evan Peters from AHS, eyes that change color in the woods, and a lot of strange puppets.

DOES YOUR WRITING SCARE YOU? I never thought I could be scared by words I string together, but then again I never thought I would spend my days in the deep dark holes of Pinterest, procrastinating.

Anyway, I’m hoping to finish this before school starts (2nd week of June) so I can breathe and make a good impression in front of my classmates and teachers and not freak them out (because writing books makes me cranky and unpredictable) and do editing during July and the rest of the school year.

I MUST GET BACK TO WRITING! Before I go, I have a little question: how do you know when an idea is worth editing? I feel like knowing as I’ve never edited a first draft I’ve written yet (I always think they’re too sucky beyond saving and mourn)

OMG GOOD LUCK FOR YOUR BOOK OF MAY!!! YOU GOT THIS! I shall cheer you on and send virtual cake. Or else I’ll eat all the virtual cake and share crumbs with you? (WHAT?! I’m just being honest here…ahem.)

But. dude. YOUR STORY. *tries to contain excitement* That sounds AMAZING. I honestly love it (psycho villains and strange puppets ajfdskladj need in my life immediately) But to answer your question…not really? 😂 I’ve never written anything creeptastic yet! BUT OMG WRITING MAKES ME CRANKy aND UNPREDICTABLE TOO. 😂 I think it’s because I get too lost in my thoughts/book, so when people drag me out of it it’s somewhat confusing and disorientating. My brain = not good at multitasking. AHEM.

As for the “how do you know if an idea is worth editing”…gah, that is SO HARD. Like for me? Time? I have a billion drafts of books that I still like fairly well, but I’m 0% enthused to edit them. I think give it time. If you’ve let it sit for 6 months and NOTHING inside you wants to revisit it…listen to your heart. But, at the same time, you can learn SO MUCH from editing. So yeah. You’re welcome for this most UNHELPFUL answer. 😂

YESSS I have been waiting for this ever since I set up my blog!!! I can’t wait to post the answers to these questions for my teenage mercenary refugee fleeing from a civil war. Thanks for helping me decide what to post this weekend! XD
I actually had an awesome month because I finally finished the first round of edits for Draped in Deception (the assassin falling in love with her target story). Which means I’ve been working on it from the first draft to now for over a year. I have no idea how I’ve managed it.
I’m not sure if you’ve done a theme like this yet, but have you done one solely on childhood? Like, were they mischievous little devil who stole all the food, or the angelic kid who played quietly in a corner? Who was their childhood best friend? What happened on their first day of school? Things like that. You don’t have to take my suggestion, but I would really enjoy having a theme like that. 😀

So glad you’re back! I really enjoyed taking part in Beautiful People; so much fun!
*accepts cake and eats it with no regrets* Thank you so much, the WIP I talked about is one of my ‘passion projects’ and is a mix of being completely frustrating and really exciting. That’s how I view most of my stories anyway. XD
Can’t wait to see what questions you come up with! 😀

I’M DROWNING IN WORDS THAT NEED TO BE EDITED, at the moment.
Also, I LOVE THIS EDITION of Beautiful People.

I didn’t participate in camp NaNo because other writers terrify me and talking about writing scares me and I know those are synonyms but it was for emphasis, okay?
I’m editing this May and, will probably need a million cupcakes and cuddles from my puppies that seem to weigh a ton, to get through the mighty manuscript I’m working on. Also, I have exams this month…Writing and exams NEVER go hand in hand with me because I get too distracted but I can’t wait to do this months edition and see what other writers are up to!

Other writers ARE totally scary. I mean, we’re all naturally a little bit psycho, so if we all get together IT’S BOUND TO BE SOMEWHAT DAUNTING, RIGHT?! Ahem. Oh oh but YAY for editing in May, Kat! YOU AND ME BOTH! We can send each other virtual cupcakes and cry.

OMGG YAY FOR SCRIVENER!! (Honestly I love Scrivener so much I could basically run away with it and marry it at dawn. *hugs Scrivener*) AHEM. And yayyyyy for Peter Pan retellings!!! I’ve done a creeptastic one in the past but it didn’t work out very well. hehe. 😂 GOOD LUCK WITH YOURS!!

I’ve had my first NaNo-failure!!! Seriously, this year so far has been awful for writing. I’ve mainly being trying to revamp old ideas which…hasn’t worked. So I’m trying something entirely new. It’s a mash-up of gothic horror and sports story and I am 99.9% convinced that it won’t work, but I’m going to have some fun with it. Fall back into writing for me instead of constantly second-guessing myself.

Omg *gives you comforting chocolate* THERE THERe, IT’LL BE OKAY. DO NOT DOUBT YOURSELF. EMBRACE THE PLOT BUNNIES. (And having fun while writing is honestly the best. So I hope this does turn out to be a fun one and is kind to you while you write it.) 😀

I love this feature Cait! I have a hard time participating because my characters are not well-developed yet but I’ll try 🙂
I DID WIN CAMP NANO! YAAAY My goal was 20K and I wrote 28.4K!!! I needed those 20K to get my editland passport BUT being my brain the mushy mess it is I added only 15K words to book 1 of my trilogy, Then 8K went to book 2 and 5.4K to book 3.

SOOOO I’m hoping to blog ahead this week and get a few posts schedule [I’m in that challenge] so I can finish those infamous last 5K words of book in May and plan my trip to editland!!!

I DREEEEEAM of editland! I heard there are rivers of sangria zigzagging through valleys of chocolate surrounded by hills of cake. So I’ll whistle from the fence in a few days and you let me sneak in ok??? Oh talking about cake… I GUSHED!!! so… Chocolate cheesecake for me please 🙂

It’s a great way TO develop your characters, too! 😀 I always find it helps me to think about more aspects of their personality and (hopefully!) make them more complex. 😂
AHHH YAY FOR EXCEEDING YOUR GOAL! CAKE ALL ROUND. Good luck with finishing it all off, too!! and omg “editland”….I love that. 😂 I should call it that and maybe it’ll stop being so frightening?! (I literally cleaned my ENTIRE room and bookshelves instead of editing today. -_-)

Yay it’s back! I can’t do any more work on my novel until I can meet up with my critique partner to go through the last round of her edits so I’m desperate for something to take my mind off things. After she’s done then I’m reading it one more time and then I’ll finally be done! *collapses*

I actually don’t mind editing, I just don’t want to edit forever and a day.

Ooh, waiting for edits is SUPER HARD I completely concur. *pats shoulder* *gives you chocolate while you wait* And at least you don’t find it insufferable to edit, I suppose?! THAT IS GOOD!! I usually feel better once I get STARTED, but omg getting started is the hardest part. *cries*

I’ve been working on Gearbound a lot, and I’ve got the most WONDERFUL idea for a contemporary story about an orphan girl who goes to live with this family who owns a bakery(mainly cake and cup cakes and stuff) and it’s about how she heals. It’s also set in the summer time. I’M SO EXCITED TO START WRITING IT. ARGHHH.

DUDE. You said bakery and I immediately LOVE your idea. Ahem. 😂 But it sounds so nice and cakey and warm and eeeeeepp…I hope it’s fun to write! ;D Do you do multiple projects at once?! I can’t. 😂 I have to only pick one. Although I DO plot multiple books…because my brain won’t give me a break. Erk.

Can’t wait to answer these questions! I missed it in April, but probably wouldn’t have been able to participate even if there was one (because of Camp NaNo). Speaking of which, I finished editing the second draft of one of my novels and am now giving it to be read. IT’S TERRIFYING!!! *deep breath*
These questions are awesome, and I am really excited for this month’s Beautiful People For Writers. 🙂

AHHHHH congrats on finishing editing!! THAT IS AN AMAZING THING. I HOPE YOU CELEBRATED MUCHLY. And omg, the waiting-for-others-to-read-it is super terrifying. *builds a protective pillow fort around you* YOU GOT THIS. YOU CAN DO IT.

YOU HAVE CAKE TO SHARE?? I shall stay then. (Forever, maybe?? room with the dragons? xD) I totally get you about just having to skip things sometimes (like this fabulous linkup) because I MEAN YOU WERE WRITING A FREAKING BOOK. HOW COOL. (seriously.) I actually have a semi-secret that I haven’t told hardly anybody yet — I’m actually considering doing NaNo this year. (Like, the November one. I don’t know how many there are anymore XD) *squeaks and flails* SO YEAH. I used to be super intimidated by the idea, but I’ve become JUST TOO OVERRUN BY PLOT BUNNIES. They are practically trampling me (like Rabbit Island in Japan and if you don’t know what video I’m talking about hi this is awkward xD) ANYWAY it’s becoming a bit overwhelming and i can’t even anymore. *facepalm* so yes. [/rant with squared brackets because when I use actual tags like this WordPress deletes it thinking that I was literally trying to code something. #technologyfails]

YES I HAVE CAKE TO SHARE. NEVER SAY I’M NOT A BENEVOLENT OVERLORD. *cuts cake magnanimously and gives it to the mere mortals* But YES, omg, we were both so busy and couldn’t catch each other. 😂 But it was good to take a break anyway, since we haven’t missed a month in over a year now!

DUUUUUUDE. YOU ARE CONSIDERING NANO?! *SHRIEKS HAPPILY* THAT WOULD BE SO EPIC. WE CAN KEEP EACH OTHER COMPANY. *tries to calm self* *FAILS* And I hear ya with the plot bunnies. I swear, 2016 has been the year of IDEA ATTACKS. I swore to myself I’d stop inventing new books, bu tI just got ANOTHER one today. *facepalm* Vigilante Batman style medieval princes. It’s gonna be awesome. AHEM. But anyway. I hope you do NaNo!! And pfft, who wants to be on topic anyway? ;D

YAY. I’m so glad this is back. Although God knows I haven’t been blogging at all lately. Or writing. EEK. But I only have 5 weeks left of this semester and then 8 weeks of holidayssssss which is very exciting 🙂 These are excellent questions.

I’ve been reading about these linkups for a long time, but I never really understood what they were or where they were coming from. Probably a lot of that issue is that I’m not tech savvy. However, I think I get it now.

Okay, firstly – April was literally less than a week ago, how does it feel like it was 10,000 years ago already???
I was SO SO BUSY with school in the month of April…..seriously, whose bright idea was it to make both NaNoWriMo AND Camp NaNo the second-to-last months in the semester, where the teachers start panicking because they’re running out of time and start BLASTING you with homework….narrr.
BUT, I did make plotting progress on my sorcery WIP! Well….it was more like “Let’s ignore the bits we actually need to fix and just write other bits” sort of progress than, you know, actual progress, BUT WE’RE GETTING THERE. I would like to reach page 100 by the end of the month, which is super doable as I am at page 93-ish right now.
But I literally got bombarded with ideas for other novels all during April, you have no idea. I am that super-paranoid type of writer who’s scared to mention too much about any of my ideas on the Internet for fear they will be STOLEN, but I’m also the type of writer who LOVES talking about writing, so…….that doesn’t work out very well. But to summarize a few of my recent ideas: 1) A Heaven vs. Hell novella where an angel gets picked up by a band of renegade demons, 2) WAR ON PLUTO, 3) Bodyguards for the Greek gods. Unless that’s been done already by Rick Riordan or someone else, which I wouldn’t know because I never read any of the Percy Jackson books growing up……oops??

Oh oh I DO have an idea, Ellie. I HEAR YA. 😂 I basically am always bombarded with ideas when it’s the WORST time. haha. Ahem. (But it’s also exciting to get a ton of new ideas??? So I can’t complain too much??) Ahem. And fair enough not talking about your ideas! Nothing wrong with being a super secret writer. 😉 I honestly don’t worry about ideas-being-stolen because even if I say “I’m writing about pirates and a chocolate factory!” no one is going to write that like I will. *nods* Plus writing is haaaaard and the chances of someone being as passionate about my ideas as I am is like, zlich. Ahem. BUT THAT’S MY REASONING ANYWAY! You totally do what’s best for you!!

But omg just from those brief lines…YOUR IDEAS SOUND SO TOTALLY COOl. Especially #1. I LOVE THAT. 😂

Hoping it’s okay that (while these questions are fabulous and I do not mean to diss them AT ALL) I was in a summery mood today? So I sort of used some questions in the archives? From July 2015? I’m so rebellious you probably don’t even want to talk to me, but as I have no intention of corrupting the linky, it’s in the CommentLuv if you want to take a peek.

Anyway – I’m loving everyone’s contributions this month! There are so many books that need to be finished so I can read about the beautiful squishy characters.

I survived NaNo though I’m not very far into writing that book.
I am rewriting the previous book now though. The beginning needs to be completely reworked and I still haven’t figure out all the important things.
And I have an idea for a fairly funny short story. It’s for an anthology completion and I’m going to write it with my brothers.

YAY FOR SURVIVING THOUGH. THIS DESERVES CAKE THE SIZE OF A PLANET AND MUCH CONGRATS. Ahem. Also I hear ya with writing and reworking beginnings. That is me right now. *dies a little* I’m rewriting my November NaNo book and oh dear…it’s a mess. 😂
Oh have fun writing with your brothers! I wrote a book with my sister once and we had SUCH a good time. ;D

One of my brother’s did NaNo too. I’d suggested he did sometime, but he went and found a cabin all himself and I only found out by accident. And now he’s keeping on with big goals and putting my current efforts to shame. While simultaneously keeping up with his pen making business. It’s kind of annoying because I never seem to have enough time for everything.

Actually I’m very glad he’s motivated. I love my brothers. They’re wonderful.
But my book does have alot more potential for being published one day. His is full of cliches, borrowed ideas and funny references and his writing skills could do with a lot of improvement.